I have to say, I enjoyed this:
“Action needs to be taken,” Chao warned.
“Time is of the essence,” Paulson warned.
Apparently so. In their haste to fix Social Security and Medicare, the officials spoke for only 12 minutes, then fielded questions for exactly two minutes more.
One reporter asked about the impact of the prescription drug benefit. “That will be covered in a technical briefing,” came the answer. Another reporter asked about the impact of immigration. The officials again recommended a “technical briefing.”
Several more hands were raised, but Paulson was done. “Okay, thank you all very much,” he said, then led his colleagues from the room. The Cherry Blossom Festival may last two weeks, but the annual sounding of the entitlement alarms lasts only 14 minutes.
I turn 50 this Friday. My father was a very conservative man. The earliest political discussion I remember hearing was dad and my “Uncle” Joe (actually not a relative) complaining about SS being insolvent and how they would never see a penny. That was 1962 or 3. 20 years later they both retired. Joe died 5 years after that, my dad in 95 and both collected SS checks until the day they died. What amazes me is how many people still buy into this. After 4 decades (minimum) of fear-mongering on SS you’d think more people would catch on. At least a majority of the electorate knows better - witness Bush going down in flames when he tried to “reform” it. BTW - his reforms called for creating private accounts to be managed by, among others, Bear Stearns. Heckuva job, Bushie!